Chapter 1 • Managing IT in a Digital World 9Review Questions
1.Define what is encompassed in the term information
technology.
2.What are some of the ways that IT has become “pervasive”?
3.What kinds of portable IT help employees work more effi-
ciently and effectively? What may interfere with productivity?
4.What kinds of IT can help support teams when team mem-
bers work at different locations?
5.How have some businesses used the Internet to compete
based on low cost, product/service differentiation, or both?6.What kind of a business might choose to have low levels of
dependence on IT?
7.What three types of IT resources need to be managed well?
8.What are some examples of newer IT manager roles, and
why are they needed today?
9.For what reasons might an IT manager have a reporting
relationship with a CIO as well as with a senior business
manager?Discussion Questions
1.Provide an example of how a business function with which
you are familiar (e.g., sales, marketing, finance, operations/
production, accounting, human resources) utilizes IT for oper-
ational and/or strategic purposes.
2.Describe some ways that you personally use information
technologies differently than you did just a few years ago.
3.Some organizations purposefully select a CIO that has strong
business management backgrounds, not just technical experi-
ence. Under what organizational circumstances do you think
this might be an effective choice?
4.Describe a new business for which you think a “virtual
organization”—which has no physical office or headquarters—could be an effective design. What are some ways that the
organization could use IT to help them effectively run their
business?
5.Would you like to work as a free agent? Why or why not?
6.Using the Internet, identify what is meant by the term digital
divide. What actions do you think could be taken to lessen this
divide—both within your own country and elsewhere in the
world?
7.Identify some Web sites for publications that could be useful
supplementary resources for studying some of the IT topics
in this textbook.Bibliography
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